Ducks winger Teemu Selanne, shown here battling with Zbynek Michalek of the Phoenix Coyotes, is gearing up for the playoff series with Detroit. JEFF GROSS, GETTY IMAGES

ANAHEIM – Sooner or later, the end will eventually come for Teemu Selanne, and it will be a loss for the Ducks, the NHL and hockey fans from many parts around the globe.

Selanne knows it. After all, he is 42 years, 299 days of age and even he has shown visible signs of slowing down.

It means that these Stanley Cup playoffs are one to cherish for the certain Hall of Fame winger, and the Ducks' longtime star didn't mind being in a reflective mood Sunday when preparation began for their first-round series against Detroit.

"Playoffs are ... it's the best time for a hockey player," said Selanne, who is heading into his 11th postseason. "My expectations for this team and myself are very high. It means a lot.

"Obviously, when you're years up the road, you try to take the opportunity you have and try to take advantage of it."

By drawing the Red Wings, the Ducks didn't get any breaks for winning the Pacific Division and finishing second in the Western Conference. It is almost fate for these two to meet before the Wings leave for the East next season.

The two have met five previous times with the Wings getting four-game sweeps in 1997 and 1999 before the Ducks returned the favor in the 2003 first round and then eliminated the Red Wings in six games to win the West in 2007 and eventually hoist their first Cup.

An underdog Ducks team pushed Detroit to Game 7 in the 2009 second round before losing at Joe Louis Arena. "History is repeating itself now," Selanne joked.

Selanne isn't the only elder statesman on the Ducks who won't have many more chances at playing for the Cup. Saku Koivu is 38. Sheldon Souray and Radek Dvorak are 36. Toni Lydman is 35. Only Selanne has hoisted the silver chalice.

"Having a chance to win it earlier in your career, you don't realize it's that hard," defenseman Francois Beauchemin said. "You might never see it again. That's what you try to tell the younger guys. This is it.

"This is the one chance we have and we all want to make that push. You never know when you're going to have that chance again."

The Ducks will see a lot of Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg on video and maybe even in their dreams over the next couple of days – if they aren't already skating around in their heads.

"I've seen some highlights," Beauchemin said. "I'm trying to follow these guys around. Obviously, they're two guys that we really want to shut down. They're a big part of their team, obviously.

"You've seen the last few games, when they had to win four games in a row to get in the playoffs. They really stepped up their game."

Selanne said his memories of facing the Red Wings in the postseason are "good and bad." He was a part of the '97, '99 and '09 losses and was in San Jose when the Ducks went on their 2003 run.

The winger, however, was front and center in '07 and delivered the most important goal in franchise history with his Game 5 overtime winner in Detroit.

"That moment was priceless," Selanne said. "There's no words to describe that. You don't need words. It happened so quickly. The best thing was when the whole rink was almost like somebody turned the volume off.

"You could hear the breathing. It was just awesome. Let's do it again."

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